1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of computational fluid dynamic analysis, and relates in particular to the generation of models for use in such analysis.
2. Description of the Related Art
Reducing the energy used by data centers is becoming commercially and socially important. A significant part of the energy used by current data centers is used to cool the data center. The main mechanism of cooling data center equipment is by the flow of air and understanding and carefully controlling the movement of air can increase the efficiency of the cooling process. Effective air-flow management ensures that cooled air is directed at parts of the data center that need cooling and not re-circulated without doing any cooling, it also ensures that warm air is quickly moved to the cooling equipment.
Increasing density of IT equipment (generating more heat in the same floor space) also increases the need for effective control of airflow.
It is desirable to control airflow throughout the life cycle of the data center; not only during design, but also as the data center evolves with increasing loads and with reconfigurations of the equipment.
Computerised simulations of airflow in a space enable solutions to optimisation problems to be found so that adjustable factors such as temperature setpoints, fan speeds, workload allocation, and operating states of cooling equipment can be set in a manner that provides the best level of energy efficiency achievable, given certain boundary conditions. Simulation models for use in simulations must be in particular formats and include a certain level of detail on particular features and aspects of the space (including the equipment in the space).